• Digital sovereignty is all the rage
• The CEOs of Deutsche Telekom and Orange have issued a joint statement to pledge their support to European sovereignty goals and, once again, lobby EU lawmakers
• They have set up the European Sovereign Tech Industry Alliance with 10 other companies, including Telecom Italia (TIM)
• The topic is set to be discussed in depth during TelecomTV’s Digital Sovereignty Forum in London on 3 December

Is digital sovereignty important to the telco community? A clear sign that it is currently at the heart of Tier 1 operator boardroom discussions came on Tuesday when Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges and Orange Group CEO Christel Heydemann issued a joint statement to say they “strongly support” collective efforts to protect strategic European interests, are “committed to actively contribute to its realisation,” and have formed a new industry alliance to try to develop a meaningful European cloud ecosystem. 

Just as it’s difficult to read or listen to any telecom sector statement these days without a reference to AI, so digital sovereignty has become a daily topic of telecom industry discourse, and with good reason. As is the case with digital communications and the facilitation of cloud and AI workloads, telco networks play a critical role, from a connectivity, management and security perspective. 

That critical role also offers new business opportunities for the telcos, though that’s not the key message behind today’s statement, which focuses instead on the link between the enablement of Europe’s digital sovereignty and the region’s relevant rules and regulations. 

The joint statement, issued as European leaders met in Berlin to discuss such matters, notes that the success of Europe’s digital sovereignty plans depends on “four fundamental building blocks” – control (resiliency and security), choice (enabling viable European alternatives to big tech options), competency (skills development), and scale (or “critical size”, as the telcos call it). 

For all of this to come together, “massive investments, bold political decisions, and active engagement of all stakeholders – public and private alike – will be required,” stated Höttges and Heydemann. 

Delivering the underlying networks that will enable Europe’s digital sovereignty “requires an improved financial environment through an investment-friendly regulatory framework,” the CEOs noted. Of course, this is just a different approach to an oft-articulated argument from many of Europe’s largest telcos that they are economically oppressed by the region’s rules and regulations, which penalise them in many ways (such as restricted M&A options, spectrum licence inconsistencies and so on). 

For those familiar with such lobbying, the following part of the joint statement will seem very familiar. 

“We call for a fundamental overhaul of today’s framework for telecoms. A bold Digital Networks Act should modernise, simplify and better harmonise rules in line with the recommendations of Draghi’s Competitiveness Report,” they stated. 

What might happen if the EU maintains a regulatory status quo and doesn’t cave in to telco requests for an overhaul? The blame game will no doubt begin. 

In the meantime, DT and Orange are focused on trying to do something about Europe’s almost non-existent sovereign cloud ecosystem (as in, cloud infrastructure and services run by European rather than major US hyperscalers) and instill a cloud-native approach in the region. 

They have, with 10 partners, formed the European Sovereign Tech Industry Alliance (ESTIA) to “promote EU digital sovereignty and advocate for a stronger focus on European digital solutions, especially in the area of cloud”. The 10 partners are: A1 Digital (part of the Telekom Austria group), Airbus, Dassault Systèmes, evroc, OpenNebula Systems, OVHcloud​, Post Luxembourg, ​Schwarz Digits, ​Sopra Steria and​ Telecom Italia.

Right now, Europe’s cloud sector is dominated by the US hyperscalers – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure – while the likes of French cloud player OVHcloud is growing but tiny by comparison (it has annual revenues of just over €1bn) and the previous joint European effort to form a cloud company, Gaia-X, has reportedly struggled to overcome familiar challenges, such as conflicting national strategies and powerful corporate lobbying. 

This new alliance will need something like a miracle to make an impact on the current cloud landscape in Europe (in this writer’s opinion). 

Transforming Europe into a “true AI continent and not a mere consumer of AI tools developed outside its borders” – another stated aspiration of DT and Orange – will also be a tough challenge, even with help from Brussels. 

“As telecom operators, we build networks able to support AI-driven traffic and to leverage AI internally to develop more efficient, smart and agile networks and services,” noted the telco partners. “And we help [by] building the capacity needed for a sovereign European AI ecosystem. Similar to our role in providing access to connectivity, we have a role to play in enabling access to AI tools for consumers as well as tailor-made and specialised computing resources for European industry, academia, and the public sector to bring AI into application.” 

That sounds like a call for the development of AI factories, something that DT is already working on (with US tech giant Nvidia), and the development of a broader AI ecosystem beyond France’s Mistral AI. It’s a worthy aspiration but would require Europe’s lawmakers and industrial giants to set aside selfish goals and execute a focused plan in an almost dictatorial fashion, something that European commissioners are not seemingly capable of achieving (witness the endless obfuscation around the 5G tool box requirements that have not been implemented region-wide after more than five years and which have made Europe a telecom tech basket case).  

The CEOs concluded: “As leading European telecom operators, we are committed to strengthening Europe’s digital sovereignty and enhancing its global competitiveness. We are building the digital infrastructure and technology that Europe needs, from connectivity to cloud, AI and cybersecurity. We call on European policymakers to support the telecoms sector with ambitious and effective reforms.”

As it comes from two of the most important companies in the region, the call for action will be noticed for sure and will certainly have its supporters, but will it fall on deaf ears? Is digital sovereignty possible in Europe and what does it actually mean for stakeholders as well as the region’s businesses and population?

The TelecomTV team will be addressing these questions and more at the Digital Sovereignty Forum in London on 3 December: The event is more of an interactive workshop than a conference, so come along and get involved!

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV